


The Hero

by marty_mcfly_jr



Series: The Hero [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Comfort after death, Failed rescue attempt, Major character tortured to death, Post-Underworld (Once Upon a Time), Torture, Underworld (Once Upon a Time)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-03-29 05:19:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13920213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marty_mcfly_jr/pseuds/marty_mcfly_jr
Summary: Someone saved the world with the most powerful magic. Power that every living being could feel to the tips of their fingers. A force that brought back the dead. But who generated this magic? Who is this great hero, who took the whole world and healed it? How did this hero produce such powerful magic?Great power comes with great sacrifice...





	1. The wonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the mystery begins  
> 

No one was surprised to see Emma in the middle of it. What _did_ surprise everyone was that she seemed not to have any idea how it happened.

The ground shook. All became silent; deafeningly silent, as the power surged through everyone, making the hairs stand up on their arms, and their heart fill with trepidation.

The townspeople, who felt the great power, came out of their homes and shops and were advancing towards the scene with looks of awe on their faces.

They found Emma on the ground face red and eyes raw from crying. A strong bright light was emanating from a huge cloud-like portal in the middle of the big, hilly field.

They could almost believe the scene in front of them. Surely, the kind of raw power they felt could cause even something like _this_ to happen.

As the townsfolk looked on, people came walking in through the gigantic portal: Daniel, Regina's lover, Ruth, David's mother, Sheriff Graham, (who now knew that he was also the lonely huntsman), Snow's mother, Marian, Robin Hood, Henry Sr. So many people. All were formerly dead. All looked alive and healthy, and in good spirits.

Everyone felt the power inside them, all around them, whereas Emma was still sitting on the ground in the middle of all that great magic -which was sending prickling sensations in every living being,- and Emma looked lost.

The town mayor approached Emma and helped her stand up.

“Why are you crying, Emma?” Regina asked.

“Am I crying?” Emma looked confused, “I don’t know,” she said with hesitation.

“Did you just preform this magic, Emma?”

But before Emma could answer, two things happened: Regina and Daniel noticed each other so that Regina forgot what she was saying, and Emma heard Neal’s voice.

“Emma?” Neal asked, “are you OK?"

Neal walked slowly toward her, not sure why she looked so confused on one hand, but at the same time, it looked like she just cried her eyes out.

Emma looked like she was in a trance. "You're alive...?" It appeared that she, too, couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Emma, indeed, felt as if she was dreaming. She had no memory of getting to where she was. She had no recollection of engaging in any kind of magic. Now she was suddenly seeing all those formerly dead people... and Neal...

“Why are you surprised, Emma,” Neal asked, “aren’t you the one who made this magic that brought us all back?”

Emma just shook her head, lost for words, she looked at the ground.

And then she saw it. Lying on the ground was a small bottle that looked like a potion. On closer inspection, she was positive that this was a memory-wipe potion, the one that had just erased her memories of how this magic occurred.


	2. searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everyone is trying to discover the source of the magic

The town hall was packed with curious people. The atmosphere was that of euphoria and celebration. Everyone was healthier and more content than ever before. Here and there, people were missing, villains were missing, and those who still cared for them were slightly less elated. But that did not change the fact that those who were _there_ and were formerly in danger of dying, because of magical maladies, were now safe and healthy. It did not change the fact that those who were once thought to be forever dead and lost were alive again, and given another chance at happiness.

Emma and Regina stood at the podium and explained the reason for the meeting.

Regina began, “we all know what has occurred yesterday in this town, and probably all around the world."  
The crowd cheered and applauded Emma, who, they all knew, was the source of their "happily ever afters" and their savior.  
"We also know that the source of it was right here, where the portal opened, and we found Emma." Again, the hall erupted with cheers, "Our question is how it happened. It was obviously a very powerful force. We scoured the entire hill for clues and found only this little bottle of potion." Regina lifted the potion bottle to show the crowd.

“We are all still very emotional, having met our long-lost loved ones, and we understand that you don’t care _how_ it happened as long as you can finally see your family and friends again. But such power must have had a source and we are trying to investigate where it all came from.”

Someone shouted from the back, “of course, _Regina_ wants to know everything to do with power!”

“Yeah,” someone else yelled, (it sounded like the Mad Hatter) “all the _normal_ people are just happy that life is good. _Normal_ people are not looking for power.”

“Isn’t it interesting,” someone else called out, “that of all villains who disappeared with this magic, only Regina remained?”

“Yeah!” A few more voices.

“Why is that?” Called grumpy.

“First of all,” Emma shouted over the voices, “ _I_ am the one investigating it. Sherriff Graham and I. Second, many of us looked this magic up. For example, Blue measured it with her wand and found that it was definitely not dark magic, but it did not come from a light source”

“And lastly,” Emma continued firmly, “Regina is not a villain. She has not been a villain for years. People can change. People reform. Apparently, she is the only villain who managed to do that and stay alive during this great revolutionary magic that occurred.

The town hall was silent again and many of the people nodded in agreement.

“Now, the only clue that we found was a small bottle of forgetful potion. We understand that in the past year or so, when life was horrible, when people were dying of magical epidemics and disorders, and villains were terrorizing the world, we all seeked to purchase such bottles. I remember a month ago it was even for sale at Granny’s. Mr. Gold’s shop sold them for a dime a dozen a few months ago, and they were sold at the Rabbit Hole as well. Also, Regina gave them out freely to anyone who came crying to her about something they wanted to forget. It will be very hard to take inventory, but if any of you remember buying such a thing or seeing anyone acquire it recently, please report to the station.”  
The meeting ended with more shouts of thanks toward Emma, and everyone dispersed joyously, looking forward to spending more quality time with all their loved ones.  
Emma and Graham walked back to the station together after the meeting, discussing the possibilities of figuring this out.

“I doubt we will get anywhere with the memory potion,” Graham commented.  
Emma was giddy with excitement every time she looked at Graham, alive and well, solving mysteries together with her.  
In the past twenty-four hours she was on a high from happiness. She saw Neal again, then she ran to Henry and they celebrated together all night, eating bagels, and doughnuts, and ice cream and talking non-stop. There was so much to catch up on! Sometime during the night Snow and Charming arrived with their baby. Then, they all went to Mr. Gold’s shop to check if he was there, but unsurprisingly, he wasn’t. All villains disappeared. Belle, however was there with her new baby. Belle was a little nostalgic and sad, but she seemed so happy with her little baby that everyone hoped she couldn’t be -too- depressed that her husband was gone.

Neal was pleasantly surprised to learn that he had a little sister, and they all sat and talked together about how much better the world became, thanks to Emma’s magic.  
Emma was not comfortable when the conversation moved toward her “savior magic” mainly because she had no idea what she did or how she did it.

And now she is back at work, as sheriff, together with Graham, trying to solve the mystery of her magic.

“At least we’re trying,” Emma told Graham, “this is driving me crazy!”

“Don’t let it,” Graham said, “one day you might remember or figure it out. Just be happy with life, Emma, you earned it.”

Emma agreed, but she was still thinking about it all the time.

Henry, too, was thinking about this very powerful magic. This magic brought his dad back. He had to know how it happened.

Henry spent the next day in Gold’s shop looking at every item. Touching it; listening to it. Henry found that, although he loved to find information in books, he was able to glean so much more from objects. He just had a feel for it.

He started with the potion bottles. Henry noticed that many of the more sinister potions, that he saw a few weeks ago, while snooping around, were gone. Probably, the magic that eliminated all the villains, also got rid of dangerous products, like those shady potions.

Yesterday, Henry had already seen the potion that his mother found on the ground next to her. He held it in his hand and felt something huge engulf his heart and warm it, but at the same time his heart felt like it was breaking. Henry instantly knew that whatever happened on that little hill was not just powerful, but intensely profound. He quickly removed a thread that was attached to the bottle, (it looked like it came from a fraying book bind) feeling just a little guilty for sabotaging his mom's evidence. He rationalized, that since his moms didn't consider looking into this piece of evidence after all this time that they had it, they might not have noticed it at all anyway.

Henry paused. He could hear Belle singing to the baby in the back while he carefully took down some dusty old potion bottles and checked them out.

The quiet from the back, meant that the baby was sleeping, and Belle might come out at any moment. Henry quickly bagged the potions, and just as Belle came out, He greeted her innocently, as if he had just entered the shop.

“Hi, can I see my little auntie?” he asked with a smile.

Belle told him that the baby was sleeping and asked if he could come again later.

“Sure!” Henry sprinted out of the shop, with his book bag full of dubious potions, and his heart full of excitement.

At the corner of the street he opened his book-bag and took out the potion he recognized as one that 'finds things'. He then took out the thread that he found with the ‘memory-wipe' potion’ bottle. He poured a drop of potion on the thread and let it guide him. He followed the thread until it reached a garbage dump, and the thread fell inside. Henry climbed into the dump and looked around.

He spotted some ancient looking books that seemed to call to him. Ancient books that looked as if they were destroyed by someone and thrown there in hopes that it would never be found. He opened one book. It was completely burned. He opened all the books, but they were all burned by the same fire, Henry could tell by feeling the books and holding them that the fire was a magical one.  
Back in his room, Henry took the burnt books and one by one, he hugged them close to his heart and listened carefully. He believed that he could feel the books telling him that they were somehow connected to the great power that turned the whole universe around and brought hope back into the world.

After he was unsuccessful at repairing the damaged books, he decided to ask his moms to help him.

“Where did you find these books?” Regina asked.

Henry has been warned against snooping, so he said that he just found them in the garbage dump.

“What do you mean you ‘just’ found them in the garbage,” Emma asked, “what were you doing in the garbage dump?”

“I was playing hide and seek with Roland,” He answered, thinking quickly, and looking at Regina. (he avoided looking at Emma when he lied).

Regina looked at Emma and Emma looked at Neal. They all shook their heads. “Don’t play near the garbage dump anymore, Henry,” his father sighed.

“But can you fix them, mom?” He asked looking at Regina and Emma.

He tried to do it by himself, using some of the potions he found, but he was unsuccessful.

Regina took one of the books and looked it over.

“It looks like whoever burned these books really meant for them to be destroyed. There isn’t even a single letter left in it.

“If it was a regular fire that burned them, we can fix it, though,” Emma said confidently, and Regina nodded in agreement.

“We will take them and try to fix these books,” Regina said, and Henry felt a sinking disappointment, because he knew that this was no ordinary fire that destroyed these books. He guessed that his mothers will not be able to fix these books easily, and he would have to snoop around so that he could read from it, -if- it is ever fixed at all.

Regina and Emma spent many weeks shut in Regina’s living room, trying every combination of magic possible, to reveal something, -anything- about the books: even a word, or a title, to no avail.  
On one such day, when they heard a knock on the door, they couldn’t believe how late it was. Regina opened the door and Neal walked in with dinner.

“I didn’t think you gals remembered to eat anything while doing your detective work,” he said handing Regina the take-out bag and turning to leave.

“Wait,” called Emma, “stay here with us and let’s eat together. I really don’t think we will do anymore work on these useless books. When we’re done eating we’ll leave.”

They sat down and told Neal about the types of magic they tried on the books. Neal pretended to listen but magic never interested him.

“…and then we tried a memory potion in combination with an incantation and a charm and still - nothing,” Emma said taking another bite.

“Did you try to use a dream catcher,” Neal asked un-enthusiastically, pretending to care, and offering one of the only magical things he knew about.

Emma gasped at that and looked at Regina. Regina looked back at Emma in excitement, and they both got up forgetting about the food, and rushing to get a dream catcher. They held the dream catcher over the first book and gently caressed the front cover with it.

Almost instantly, words began to appear in the dream catcher. The title of the book: “The Greatest Power in All the Realms”

Regina and Emma squealed as the first page appeared. Neal saw their excitement and got up, taking his phone.

“I will snap pictures of the dream catcher as the chapters change. No one can read this fast.”

“Good idea,” Regina said.

After a few long hours, they had the book on their phones, and were each starting to read.

They were all so engrossed, that when Henry came home he was able to see exactly what they were doing, before they pretended that they were just sending each other video clips on their phones.

Henry already started thinking of plans to get his hands on one of his parents’ phones.

After Henry went to bed, the three parents continued reading. As the days and nights wore on, they loaded all the books on their phones. While they read every single book, they needed to call Blue to explain a few things. They called Belle to explain some passages, too, and by the summer’s end they had a basic idea of what must have happened.


	3. clues

Henry was having no luck trying to understand the philosophical nature of the books he copied from his parents' phones. He invited a few friends to assist him in figuring it out, but they were no help.

"Look," Henry said, "let's start at the beginning. It is describing a scenario where no one will be sure about what is good or evil anymore, and this will cause all kinds of maladies and murders that will remain unsolved and become unstoppable."

"This one person, this hero, will be able to create powerful magic that has never existed before in such abundance," continued Violet thoughtfully.

"key word, I'd say, is 'abundance," said Hansel.

"Meaning, it has existed before," agreed Gretel.

"According to Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books," Henry started.

Everyone groaned.

"We _get_ that you became a fan of Harry Potter, but,"

"No, _listen_ ," Henry continued, "there is a room in the ministry of magic that is always kept locked because it has such power in it that the world couldn't take it, and according to Dumbledore, that power is love!"

"Oh, Henry," sighed Grace.

"O. Henry is not the author of Harry Potter. Grace, focous," joked Hansel.

"Har, har, har," Gretel badgered, "but love _does_ exist outside Harry Potter's ministry of magic."

"So you're saying that this person _is_ that room?" Violet reflected, "because it says ,here, that the power is _inside_ him or her."

"Our hero is the _definition_ of love itself," Grace said in a sing-song voice and a little mock-romantic dance.

"Love is something that happens between two people, like your charming grandparents," said Gretel.

"Yeah," agreed Hansel, "one person can't hold such enormous love within himself alone."

"Maybe it's a different kind of love, like, maybe this hero loves people who don't love back?"

"Also," Grace said, "how is the power, let's say it's love, OK? How is this person supposed to blow the world up with that power? Rip himself in two?"

"Right, I guess this doesn't make sense," Henry agreed reluctantly. 

"Unless the book means it figuratively, " Violet said.

*********

The books spoke only of the _-possibility_ \- of healing the world when things got too bleak. Even the most informative book, “The Theory of Creating Power” was only talking about things "theoretically".

The adults were having better luck with the books.

"According to this book," Regina said, holding her phone up for Emma to see, "there will exist one person who, possessing certain  qualifications (unknown to the philosophers), will be the only one able to fix it all." 

"Yeah I was just reading that part," Emma murmured still looking at her phone. "It says that This great magic will come from - _within_ \- that individual in a way that his body will be a vessel holding this tremendous power, and this "vessel" will have to break open in order to get it out into the world." Emma looked up at Regina, "what does this even mean?"

Blue tried to explain whatever she understood from the passage that she was reading. "The only way to save the world is for this one person; this _hero_ , I guess, to give every single being in all the realms their own unique ‘happy ending', villains and heroes alike. For _that_ to happen, this one person will have to be willing to sacrifice his or her own happiness forever."

"Oh, now it makes more sense," Regina mused "The villains will have their version of a happy ending, because that person, allegedly, will not only find a way to open his or her... _vessel_ to create the power, but will then be dragged, half alive and half dead, to a kind of hell. And in that hell, all the villains of the world, will be trapped with that one chosen person."

"Ah, so the villains' happily ever after will consist of their unlimited ability to torture that one poor soul who gave up its happiness. So, In other words, “Hell” will be a wild party for the villains where they spend their time entertaining themselves with what they enjoy most: hurting someone without restraint; pushing a body beyond its breaking point." Blue elabrated.

"Yup, that sounds about right," Emma sighed, "The rest of the world will live long healthy lives with their families and loved ones without fear, because the villains will be stuck with their one victim forever." She put her phone down, "sounds grim enough," 

The book stated that, hypothetically, -if- saving the world would have ever been possible, the one willing to take on the world’s suffering  will not be able to do it alone. They will need the help of a partner; a kindred spirit of some sort. The partner will need to have an enormous amount of light and dark power. 

“This doesn't sound good…” Emma whispered She was one of the few people with light and dark magic. 

“what did I do? Did I sacrifice someone?” She couldn’t imagine herself using another human for such a sacrifice, no matter how willing they’d be.

“Maybe this is why you took the forgetting potion. It must have felt like you murdered someone,” Regina stated matter-of-fact. “Although, of course you didn’t!” Regina added quickly, seeing the stricken look on Emma’s face.

They were all sitting at the police station: Sheriff Graham, Belle, Emma, Regina, Blue, and Charming, gathered there to discuss the books.

Emma shuddered at the thought. “Now we need to figure out who that person was,” she hesitated, “who is missing?”

“Well, all the villains are missing,” Sheriff Graham shrugged.

“Not really,” Regina said, “I am one villain who remained. What if more villains were reformed? Maybe one of _them_ …?”

“Or what about Killian,” Emma asked, “he’s not a villain. We should look for him. No one’s seen him for over a year, ever since we had that fight and broke up. If we can’t find him anywhere, maybe _he_ is the one.”

“Where are we supposed to even start looking,” Regina wondered, “the world is huge!”

Emma turned away. She didn’t want to tell anyone, but she still had his phone number. She was just too afraid to be the first to call.

When the meeting was over, Emma decided that it was time to swallow her pride and call. The phone rang five times before it went to answering service. Emma thought that if he won’t pick up the phone in the next few days, she will use her power as a sheriff to locate his phone and find him. Even if he won’t want to talk to her, she just had to see if he’s alright.

Meanwhile, Belle called Neal to come talk to her in the pawn shop.

“What’s up,” Neal asked coming in the door. “Hey little sister,” he cooed when he saw that Belle was holding the baby.

“I’m worried about your father,” She began.

Neal felt a pang of regret. “I’m worried too,” he said, “I was really hoping that he would have stayed a good man, like he was when I left him.”

“Yeah,” Belle sighed, “it’s a pity… He could have been here now…” Belle’s eyes welled up as she paced around holding her baby close.

Both Neal and Belle did not voice their biggest concern: they were too afraid to consider the possibility that they will never see their loved one again. If he was trapped in hell, weather as a villain or as the one poor hero, it didn’t look like they will meet in any afterlife.

Regina also, wondered where Zelena was. Did she disappear with all the villains? Why was Regina spared but not her sister? Could it be that Zelena reformed so far to the light side that she would give up her own happiness to fix the entire world? After all, didn’t the book say that good and evil were muddled, and no one was able to tell the difference? What if Zelena was really that good?

That night many of storybrooke’s residents stayed awake thinking about the people whom they were close to. People whom they have not seen in a while, whether because they disappeared from that awesome turn of events and the worlds' healing, or because of fights and separations.


	4. Cheers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma suspects that it might be Hook and decides to go save him from hell. the investigators realize that "hell" is not where they thought

Emma kept calling Killian’s cellphone. She called him all week, but there was no answer. When she walked into the police station on Monday morning she decided to locate Hook’s phone and follow it to wherever it might be. 

Sheriff Graham helped her and they both followed the cellular tracking device until they reached Hook’s phone. The phone was found in a Boston bar on the floor. 

Emma asked the bar tender, Sam, if he remembers anyone named Killian, and the bartender said he didn't.

"And in this bar, I know all my regular's names," he said.

"That's true," said a man wearing a postal uniform and a mustache, "this is a place where we all remember everybody's name,"

"Cheeres!" Called a few voices.

Emma checked the call history and saw that he did not answer any calls since the day she was found with no memory on the hill. She asked people in the street, the police, everyone at the bar, and no one remembered seeing him. He was simply not there.

“He's the one,” Emma breathed. “I am going after him. I can’t let him be tortured by all those villains forever!”

When Emma got back to Storybrooke, she announced that she is going into hell and if anyone wants to come along, they could.

Henry and her parents were the first to say they wanted to join, but Emma rejected Henry and Snow. “Henry, you are too young for this, and, mom, you should stay home and take care of my little brother.”

Snow agreed, and Henry eventually agreed reluctantly as well. Neal, Regina, and Daniel joined Emma and David, but they warned her that it will probably be very dangerous.

“We’ve done it before,” Emma said, “and Killian got out. So even if it wasn’t us who saved him, I’d say it had been pretty successful.”

No one disagreed, especially now that Robin was alive and well, so they all got on a little boat together after Emma cut her palm and a drop of blood got in the water.  
“What is she doing?” Daniel asked Regina.

“We’ve all been in the underworld before, so we can go there again if we put a drop of blood in the river.”

“The underworld is not hell,” Daniel pointed out.

“But it’s a start,” Regina said, “from there we can probably get to hell.”

When they reached the other side of the river, it was clear that something was not right. The underworld looked completely deserted. They walked through the entire Underworld and didn’t meet a single soul. Even the river of lost souls was dried up with not a soul inside!

“Where is everybody?” Emma asked.

Regina shook her head in wonder.

“This can’t be possible,” David exclaimed.

“Wait,” said Daniel, “didn’t the book say something about everyone getting their happily ever after? Even the villains? Could it mean that the villains who were trapped in hell were also freed and brought back to life?”

“But their happily ever after would be to torment Hook for all eternity,” Regina said, “wouldn’t that mean that they are in the underworld or in hell doing just that?”

“Or maybe,” suggested David, “since the one who sacrifices his happiness for all eternity will be half alive, could it be that Daniel is right, and everyone is out there somewhere in a realm where they can live for all eternity while he or she will be half alive and half dead, this way even if they cut him up or burn him he will not be able to completely die because he is already half dead?”

“Makes sense,” said Neal with a shudder, “other than Neverland, does anyone know of such a realm, where people could live forever?”

Regina and Emma’s eyes widened with realization, “Neverland!”

“That must be the new hell!” David exclaimed.

“The hell where all the villains are joyful and are living happily ever after!”

“The book did say it was ‘a sort of hell’ not an actual hell,” said Neal.

“How do we get there?” Emma asked beginning to walk back to the boat and out of the underworld.

Regina looked thoughtful, “not through a shadow anymore…”

“Think we could get our hands on a magic bean?”

“We can ask Tiny,” Emma said as they reached Storybrooke again.

As it turned out, Tiny did happen to have one last magic bean hidden away and offered it to the group.

They opened the portal with the bean and before they knew it, everyone was in a new place. Neverland was almost completely blocked by shrubbery, and when they walked in – Emma in the lead, they were shocked to see the whole place looking like it was ransacked by drunk looters.

The look and feel of the place was of a long wildly crazy party that was hosted by the vilest creatures. They did not meet anyone as they continued walking into the island. It looked like everyone was gathered at one of the fields probably entertaining themselves by punishing their victim.

Before they could advance any further, a pack of Cruella’s dogs were bounding in their direction ready to attack them. Without thinking, Regina poofed them all to a secluded spot in Neverland.

“How did you know to do that?” Daniel asked in awe.

“I’ve been to my share of bad parties,” Regina admitted, “I know that there is always an area where the losers go, and it’s usually secluded."

“I guess we’re losers here” David chuckled.

“It’s very dangerous for us to go out here. We will need to wait until a loser comes to us,” Regina said, “and don’t worry," she added when Emma wanted to protest, "we won’t have to wait long. I’m sure there’s one or two villains who don’t enjoy crucifying someone - _all day_ -“

Within a few minutes, a loser did walk in, and it was someone that no one expected.

_“Mama!”_

“What are you doing - _here_ -,” Emma called in shock, “ _you_ are in this hell?!”

“I know,” Milah said, looking truly miserable, “but the underworld was shut down. They offered me a choice: I can either move on to the light, or return to life as long as I stay here forever. I was unable to move on because of my unfinished business, and life seemed so refreshing, even though it would mean -- ”

“Mama,” Neal broke in, “who is the person being attacked everyday by all the villains?”

“Can you help us get to him?” Regina interrupted.

“Do you also join in and harass him?” Emma demanded looking disgusted.

Milah looked apologetically at them, answering Emma’s question first. “At first everyone thought that I wanted to, because I came here with all the villains. They did not know of our relationship, but eventually they saw that I was not comfortable with it at all, and since that time, they use me to hurt their victim even more. No one here trusts me,” she said turning to Regina, “and if I try to help I will just get hurt. The residents here are terrifying.”

“who is he,” Neal asked again, and just as Milah opened her mouth to answer, she started choking as if someone punched her hard in her stomach.

“Mama!” Neal ran to her just in time to catch her mid-fall

“I can’t tell, I can’t tell, I can’t tell” she repeated again and again in panic when she got her voice back, and she ran away.

Everyone looked at each other dumbly wondering what that was all about.

Before they could think of another way to save him, there was a sudden vapor in the air, and they all dropped down and fell asleep on the spot.

Regina was the first to wake up. She saw everyone just laying on the ground wherever they fell and sleeping soundly. She was about to shake Daniel awake but she kicked David by mistake, and David woke up too.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know, but I think that as long as we are here in this spot no one can touch us, or else, we would be worse than just asleep. It also looks like they -can- reach in here and hurt another resident of hell, so we need to be more careful with this Milah person.”

Neal woke up.

David was about to wake up Emma when he suddenly saw a thin silver-ish fluid slowly come out of Emma’s brain. David’s gasp made Regina and Neal turn to look and when Regina saw that thin thread coming out of Emma’s brain she grabbed it using quick thinking, and powerful magic, to gather it into a test tube “what was -that-?” Regina asked breathless. And as she looked closer at the tube she let out an “Oh!” of surprise.

"This looks like Emma’s memories that were erased. Sometimes, when memories are erased it takes months for them to finally leave the brain forever. Even though she herself would never remember them, the memories themselves still existed in her brain, and someone here attempted to take them away. Stupid move on their part.  
None of us would have ever known it was there. I guess we were supposed to be sleeping or something. Here’s more proof that they can’t really touch us in here.”

Regina continued, “if I wasn’t quick enough to put it in the tube it would have disintegrated within seconds of being in open air.”

“Well, now that we have it, let’s see it” David said.

“No, you keep watch,” Regina said, “I’ll look at it. What if it’s not really the memories but a trick to get us distracted? Besides, only one person can see this thing, and it can’t be Emma because she erased these memories for herself.”

“OK,” David agreed and sat to keep watch.


	5. Why

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> why Emma agreed

Regina said that she had to open the bottle and breathe the silvery goo into her nose until it reaches her brain,  but when she opened the bottle her hands shook and some of that fluid spilled out. Without thinking, Neal, who sat right beside her, breathed in the rest of it before it would disintegrate. Into the air.

Neal and Regina were suddenly both transported in their minds to Regina’s living room some fourteen months earlier.

Emma was crying about the fight she had with Hook and how they were now separated. Regina was trying to soothe Emma hugging her and saying comforting words. "I don't even remember what we were fighting about," Emma wailed.

Regina patted her on the back, "there there," she said awkwardly.

“I would never fight like that with Neal,” Emma suddenly said, “He really understood me and knew what I liked,” she cried.

“It’s normal to think about a past love when disappointed by a current partner,” Regina commented.

“No,” Emma answered, “you don’t understand how much I miss Neal,” and Emma began sobbing uncontrollably.

Someone rapped lightly on the open door and came in. It was Mr. Gold. “bad timing?” he smirked.

“Emma is crying over her true love,” Regina said.

Gold rolled his eyes, “I would hardly consider the pirate – “

“Over Neal,” Regina cut him off.

The smirk was wiped right off Mr. Gold’s face and he looked like someone had just gutted him out. Suddenly, his expression changed and Regina (in the past and the present) recognized that conniving look. As if the wheels in his brain are spinning to make figurative Gold out of straw.

“Miss Swan,” Gold said, “what if I tell you there is a possibility to bring Neal back?”

Emma looked at him almost stupidly.

Regina piped up, “you can't bring back the dead not even if someone will trade a life for a life."

"I have something else in mind," He said dismissively to Regina.

"So you're looking for someone to sacrifice their happiness forever! Oh," Regina continued when she saw Rumple's shocked expression, "I do still spy on you and the kind of books you read."

“Anyway,” Regina continued, “you can’t make Emma give up her happiness – “

“I wasn’t going to – “ Gold started, and then he stopped himself and waved his hand in front of Regina’s face making gas-like magic and suddenly, Regina smiled vaguely and said, “I’ll go with Henry to his doctor’s appointment. See you, Emma.”

“What did you do to Regina?” Emma demanded.

“Nothing, I just took her back a few minutes and reminded her about an important appointment.

“No wonder I didn’t remember this part!” the present Regina said out loud.

Neal and Regina continued looking at the memory.

Emma looked suspiciously at Gold, “why should I trust you? You always said that bringing back the dead is impossible?”

“It’s not just that, its not just bringing back the dead, Miss Swan, Belle is unaware of the fact that I have been warding off countless miscreants who've been trying to get their hands on our baby. I am powerful enough to keep them at bay for now, but the danger is still lurking. 

"But," Emma started, 

Gold cut her off. "Your son is in danger too. Regina is now looking for Henry who is probably hiding somewhere because he doesn't  want to go to his appointment. Do you know why? Because Henry knows that he has "the malady". He knows that he will die before he reaches adulthood –"

Emma gasped in horror but Gold continued, “You’ve been taking him to that doctor almost every month, Regina and you. It’s the same story over and over again. You find out that he is dying, You and Regina try everything you can, even though you know it is hopeless, You come to my shop begging for help, I tell you that there is nothing I can do, and then you and Regina drink the forgetting potion and force Henry to drink it too. Then the cycle starts again: Henry displays symptoms, you make an appointment and so on. I suspect that the last time you did it, Henry only pretended to swallow the potion. That’s why he’s been avoiding the two of you and purposely missing his doctor’s appointments.”

Emma was standing in shocked silence and staring at Gold, eyes wide with fear.

“This was what you and the pirate were fighting about: Henry, if you don’t remember. Of course you don’t remember! You keep taking those forgetful potions.”

Emma made a small move, but Gold continued.

“Let’s just skip the appointment part and pretend you came to me asking for help. I am offering my help now. Are you willing to work with me?”

Emma’s expression changed from horror to anger, “I will wait and see what the doctor says. I will talk to Regina tonight, before going into anything with - _you_ -“

Gold just smiled and said, “I’ll wait.”

The pace of Emma’s memories hastened as if in fast forward. These must be the memories that were not erased. The images slowed and They saw Emma going into Gold’s shop late at night.

“I’ve been expecting you,” Gold said calmly, handing her a bottle of forgetting potion, “you’ve finally decided to cooperate.”

“Only to save Henry.”

“The reason doesn’t matter,” Gold said indifferently, as Emma took the bottle and examined it.

"Are you going to kill someone and make me forget?"

"I can't  force you to do anything, Miss Swan, but I am relying on you to be willing to save the world, _savior."_

“What you need to do involves powerful magic," he continued, "Here are some books that might describe some of what will happen. You can look through them before we go.”

“Now?” Emma asked

“I was just waiting for you. If you’d rather take more time, go home and sleep first you can go ahead. It’s up to you.”  
   
Emma looked concerned and chose to go home to Henry and Regina first. She probably felt that she should say goodbye to her loved ones before she goes with him. who knows if she'd survive.


	6. Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I fixed the last chapter. Please leave reviews.

The pace of the images sped up and slowed down again and Emma could be seen standing near a small hill holding a pile of books while Gold was pacing around the hilltop, feeling the ground, and mumbling incantations in preparation. Emma put the books down on the ground and picked up one book.

"Should I start with this one?" Emma asked holding the book out for Gold to see.

He looked up and shrugged, "you can start with it if you want."

Emma started flipping the pages.

"It's not really an instruction book," Emma complained, "It just talks in theory about a creator of magic and a partner who would control that magic and bring it to a certain level for the entire universe to refresh, or something."

"Yes, I will produce the magic, you will direct it."

Emma hesitated, "it says that the partners have to have a strong bond! 'there must be a profound connection between the them. One which binds them together by a common plight' - _we_ \- have a strong connection?" Emma asked disbelief and mirth written on her face. "What is-" Emma, then, stopped herself and opened her eyes wide in recognition, "Oh!" she exclaimed, understanding.

"What," Neal asked, looking at the scene, puzzled.

"- _You-_ , you knucklehead," Regina kicked him.

They continued looking at the memories.

Emma kept flipping the pages, "I don't read as fast as you do, Gold, I want to start with the important stuff. I'm not really interested in the theory"

Gold stopped what he was doing and came to examine the books.

"This one is about your part in the magic. Start with this."

As Emma started reading, the expression on her face became very concerned; the longer she read the more worried she looked.

"What kind of magic is this?" She asked after a few minutes of intense reading.

Gold ignored her and kept preparing the grounds using spells.

"I don't get it," she said looking very upset, "I'm supposed to conduct your magic and you are supposed to do what, exactly?" her voice reached a high octave of panic towards the end of the sentence.

"I do what it says in the book," Gold said patiently, "it can't be too hard to understand. You need to be prepared to channel the magic three times. Did you understand that part?"

Emma stared at him.

"After the third time," he continued, "right after the magic reaches the climax and opens the portal that will change the world for the better, you are to drink this potion," Gold pointed at the small bottle he gave her, "it will make you forget how the magic happened. This way when everyone gets here you wouldn't tell them how you made this magic."

Emma looked back at the book.

"So you are going to halfway die?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered curtly, and continued his preparations.

"It doesn't say anything about a forgetting potion in the book." She said.

"No, it doesn't, but you will do it anyway, because I am asking you to."

"Why?"

"So you'd forget about me, and," he gestured at the little hill and everything on it, "all of - _this_ -."

Emma looked incredulous, "you're going to die horribly, and suffer for all eternity to save the world, and you want me to - _forget_ \- you?"

Gold clicked his tongue in annoyance, "I'm not doing it for _-you-_ ," he said looking briefly up at her.

Emma stared at him as he kept working, ignoring her.

Soon, Gold announced, "OK, it's ready. Are you clear about what you need to do?"

Emma jumped a little.

"I think so," she said dubiously, "it's not much. I just focus on concentrating the magic into one place –" she looked around and pointed to the area that gold was readying, "here, right?"

"Yes, good girl. You need great power to be able to channel this magic, and I trust that you are powerful enough." he pointed his hand to the pile of books and they burst into flame and disappeared. "So, are you ready?"

"I don't know," Emma answered, "are you?"

Gold, standing on the hilltop slightly above her, nodded and took out his dagger.

He lifted his left leg and stamped it hard on the ground, and at the same time he threw the dagger sharp point first so that it landed on his foot just as his foot touched the ground. A sudden bright light flared up as his foot dug deep into the ground ripping the lower part of his body in half.

Emma instinctively lunged for him as He let out a terrible scream of pain. A thin layer of clear film almost blocked her way, but she ripped easily through the thin layer, grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back.

As his leg was removed from the depth of the earth, his body instantly healed itself without even a sign of blood.

"What have you done?" he demanded sounding angry while gasping for air. they were both rolling down the hill, Emma still holding on to him.

"What was that thin layer between us?" Emma asked.

"Just a filter so that blood and guts don't splatter all over you," he answered dismissively, "but why did you do that?"

He de-tangled himself from her, irritably, and asked again, "why did you stop me?"

Emma was also breathing hard and with tears in her eyes she kept repeating in panic, "I can't let you do this. I can't let you do this. I can't –"

"Why?!" Gold looked so exasperated; He threw his hands in the air and spinned away from Emma. "I thought you are with me on this," he yelled turning back to Emma and ignoring her tears "Saving the world! We talked about this! You are the savior, you should want this. All these people dying every day, all those people who died without a chance at any happiness. There are so many lives on the line as we speak, Henry is one of them! Don't you want to save them?"

"Not when another human will die so painfully and then suffer for the rest of eternity," cried Emma, "And why does it have to be -you-? Maybe I should do it?"

"It has to be the dark one," Rumple answered shortly.

"I was the dark one," Emma said.

"You aren't now."

"Don't you feel sorry for yourself?" Emma looked up at Gold her cheeks wet and her eyes welling up again.

"No," Rumple said, "I feel happy for myself. I will finally get what I want."

"You want to die a horrific, halfway death?"

"I want," he said impatiently, "my family to live and be protected. Lucky for me, I have the means to ensure this. It's an opportunity we can't pass up, Emma," Gold said imploringly, "the terrible state that the world is in right now, and you, having the potential to be as powerful as I am, and, and, we both feel the same way about the same person, and..." He stopped when he realized he was almost rambling.

"Please, Emma, I can finally ensure my family's safety and their peaceful life, at a price."

"The price," Emma hiccupped between sobs, "is astronomical."

"I know," he softened, seeing Emma crying helplessly because she finally realized that it must be done, he put a shaking hand on Emma's shoulder and conjured up a tissue box with his other hand and handed it to her.

"I am sorry that you have to be part of it, Emma. I wish I'd be able to do it by myself," he added gently, "but I need you."

The tissue box in front of Emma was trembling. Emma did not take a tissue, instead, she took Gold's quivering hands in her own.

"You're shaking" she commented unnecessarily.

Gold looked down and muttered almost inaudibly, "I'm terrified."

Emma seized Gold in a tight embrace which surprised him.

"I made it worse... I pulled you out... And now, that you've already felt the pain, you're even more afraid to do it again," she whispered looking anxious.

"Don't worry," he said soothingly, "that was nothing, compared to what's waiting for me."

Emma hugged him tighter and said, "this fact doesn't make it easier."

He pulled away from Emma's hug and said, "look, I will try hard not to display excessive signs of distress, but I _am_ a coward. Staying dignified in the face of extreme physical discomfort is not something I'm good at."

Emma tried to say something, but she just swallowed the lump in her throat, tears still streaming down her face.

"It won't be pleasant," Gold whispered, "but you'll just have to man up and do your part. Can you promise to ignore me and focus on the magic?"

Emma was still holding his hands.

"Please," he repeated stepping away from her, "can you ignore me and focus on your job?"

Emma continued crying but nodded, preparing herself.

Rumple put that thin clear screen back between them, and lifted his leg and his dagger, and for the second time he split part of his body in half. He did not scream this time, but he bit his lip so hard that there was blood in his mouth as he gasped and whimpered a little.

Emma screamed, however, but she held her part of the deal and transported the magic

"Did you catch the magic and beam it to the right place?" He panted.

"I did", she said, "but are you sure you want to do this?"

Gold didn't answer. He was breathing hard.

"I have to stamp my foot again, deeper," he trembled. He didn't look strong enough to continue.

Suddenly, he produced an old chipped cup out of nowhere, and held it in his hands. Looking down at it, he took a deep, shaky breath and stamped his foot again. there was a loud ripping sound as his body was cut further in half, and a bright golden light engulfed them. Both Gold and Emma screamed, but Emma quickly remembered to point the magic in the right direction while Rumpelstiltskin's screams subsided to whimpers. He was shaking so hard inside the ground, that it felt like an earth quake.

Emma fell to her knees so that she was at eye level with Rumpelstiltskin, because half of him was deep inside the earth while the other half was struggling to stand straight. She looked like she was about to pull him out again, so he shouted something that sounded like "stay away" or "don't touch me" and held his palms out to gesture "stop," his words were too jumbled to be recognized, and sounded like just incoherent screams.

"I did," Emma sobbed, understanding some of his disjointed yells, "I got the magic, but are you sure you want to continue?"

He answered something that sounded very much like, "stop asking me that question!" and he tried to lift his leg again. After a few long minutes of failed attempts to lift his leg up so he could stamp his foot for the last time, he slouched and said, "I'm too weak."

"So forget it," Emma begged, "it's too hard, maybe you don't have to save the world…"

Again, she reached out to pull him out, and again he shouted, "no, stop!"

"I _-have_ \- to help you somehow!" she pleaded.

"You can," he stuttered, and held his trembling palm out, to stop Emma from trying to pull him out again, "n-no one's, no one has ever told me how you and my son met. How – how did you know each other in the land without magic?"

Emma looked confused, "you want me to tell you the story of how I met Neal?" she asked, " _now_?"

"Yes… please…"

She sat down and started telling him how she stole a car and there was a cute guy who popped out from the back seat. She told him how they drank hot cocoa and how they became petty criminals together. She took out the key chain that she still kept and gave it to him to hold. As Emma talked Gold's eyes welled up and before long there were tears running down his face. He was sobbing with emotion when she let him hold the keychain/necklace, and when she told him that she also kept the car that they first met in, he asked, "where do you keep it? Did I ever see it?"

"It's my yellow bug," she answered, "everybody sees it. All the time."

Gold's eyes widened in surprise as his sobs lessened.

"Thank you for sharing this with me," he told Emma, handing her back the necklace, and composing himself.

He took a deep trembling breath. "Keep focus on your part now," he said shakily, and with a mighty tug he lifted his leg up, and for the last time stamped his foot hard on the ground. Another burst of blinding golden light engulfed the whole area. The earth began to tremor as one half of Rumpelstiltskin was ripped completely and sunk all the way into the ground. His other half fell horizontally onto the floor, and his screams of pain and horror were fading away as if a strong wind was scattering the sound. As the visible half of him started to melt into the ground and join the other half of his body, Gold pointed a crumbling finger towards the bottle of forgetting potion with a pleading look in his fading eye.

Emma took the bottle right away and gulped down the entire potion in one shot, still looking at the spot where Rumpelstiltskin was decomposing. At the last swallow of the potion, there was nothing there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the original fairytale "Rumpelstiltskin," he rips himself in half by stamping his foot, and is never heard from again.  
> In another version, he stamps his foot so hard that a hole is made streight into hell and he falls there.


	7. Appreciation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lots of violence in this chapter. this is where the warnings come in.

Regina looked at Neal who started going out, she quickly blocked his way.

"Move. I am going to find him," he told Regina in a broken voice.

"It's too dangerous to go out now," Regina said. "it's only safe in here"

Neal looked ashen. "Dangerous? How can you think about danger after what you saw," 

"Do you know what it would do to him if something happens to you," she kept moving in front of him, blocking his way out, "You realize he did all of that for you, don't you? He's been in this hell for over a year. You running into danger without a plan will not help him. I know I worked against your father many times, but I really care for him. Don't let his suffering be for nothing."

Neal and Regina were talking in hushed voices so that not to wake up Emma and Daniel,. David, who noticed that they were not just standing and looking at memories asked, "What did you see?"

Regina hushed him and said, "I'll tell you later," then she turned to Neal who collapsed on the ground and was weeping helplessly. She sat by him and said, "listen, Neal, we must not tell anyone what we saw. if we talk out loud the villains would hear us and might try harder to stop us. don't forget who the owner of this island is. he would never want us to find out who they're keeping here."

Neal looked at Regina with tears in his eyes, not comprehending.

"Look," Regina sighed, "let me go out and try to locate Milah and see how she can help us. meanwhile, you must stay here and not breathe a word about it to anyone. in fact," Regina waved a hand on David's face, "now he won't remember that we saw anything either," she said, "just sit tight and keep quiet. I promise to do everything I could to find him and help him. but you, Neal, your safety is the most important thing right now, do you understand?"

Neal nodded and wiped his tears, "please, do your best..."

Regina walked around Neverland not sure where to start looking for Milah or anyone else. Suddenly she heard faint sounds of what resembled a chicken screaming. Someone sounded so horse, that the almost inaudible screams sounded like  quacks of a tortured bird.

'No wonder we never heard any sounds of agony since entering neverland', Regina thought, 'he must have lost his voice months ago'. 

She strained her ears with magic and heard, from a different direction, sounds of a struggle and a woman scream. Someone was saying, as they neared the location where Rumple was wheezing, "I found her trying to sneak into the safety bubble where those idiots are hiding. She was going to tell them who our pigeon is, and maybe help them free him."

"Tie her up" someone else answered. "Lets show everyone what happens to someone who tries to help this pathetic coward."

She heard Milah's screams of pain and by the time she walked closer to get a better look and formulate a plan to help her, Milah was already bleeding heavily from her ears and face and she looked like a rag. Across from her Regina saw Rumple on his hands and knees, tied to a tree with a collar and a leash like a dog. He looked like a filthy skeleton with bruises and burn marks covering every inch of his body. He looked at Milah, his arms and legs bloodied and shaking, barely able to keep himself from collapsing. Regina watched in horror as they placed Milah on a slingshot and shot her far into space.

Regina quickly calculated where Milah must have dropped and ran to check if she can still save her life somehow.

When she approached Milah, Regina rushed to check if Milah was still alive and found that she was dying. Regina apologized before conjuring up a dream catcher and taking Milah's memories.

" I... They... I... wanted... help... they...." Milah was trying to say. Regina held her and said, "I will see your memories and know what happened," and Milah died in her arms.

Regina poofed herself and Milah to where Neal was waiting.

Neal was just waking Emma up when Regina arrived and he saw his mother in her arms.

"Mama?" Neal looked horrified, "What happened?" he asked Regina.

"They killed her. I got some of her memories, so while you bury her, I will go look at them."

Everyone got to work digging a hole in the ground and Emma conjured up a headstone. Neal cried a little, but he looked too much like a nervous wreck, so no one approached him or spoke to him at all. They worked silently, as Regina left them and, by herself, sat on the side with the dream catcher looking through Milah's memories.

Looking at the dream catcher, Regina saw how Milah flew out of the river of lost souls, in the underworld, while everything shook and loud noises were heard. Suddenly, half of Rumpelstiltskin fell into the underworld looking like it was still alive. As Milah (and now Regina) was looking on in horror, the other half of Rumple was attaching to his first half, and, struggling to stand up, he looked whole again.

suddenly a strong wind blew and without words, the wind announced that they can either move on in death, or be alive again, but be stuck forever in Neverland with a worthless coward whom they could torture for sport.

Next thing Regina saw was Milah and many villains in Neverland all standing around the pathetic looking Rumple kicking him to each other like a ball and shouting insults at him. Each villain was competing who can cause the former dark one more pain, until it became almost an organized contest where people took turns trying to make him scream the loudest.

Someone in the crowd addressed Milah, "Hey, pretty girl, you never had a chance yet," and thrust a drill into her hand, "get him to make some noise!"

Milah looked frightened but she shakily obeyed the crowd. She looked more afraid of the drill than he was, when she approached Rumple and drilled a hole in his ribs. To the delight of the onlooking crowd, his screams became high pitched, and sounded almost like a woman's. 

Milah removed the drill as soon as she could, and dropped it to the ground as she walked away shakily. The drill lay there, forgotten, but Milah couldn't take her eyes off her ex-husband's ribs while the villains continued finding new ways to make his body spasm and jerk in pain, causing more blood to spray out of the wound she made.

Through all of that, Regina noticed, Rumple did not seem to be bothered by the fact that he was the target to all that abuse. Oh, he did scream, he even had tears in his eyes when the villains really hurt him fatally (although he never actually got killed, no matter how badly they injured him) But through all that pain, he seemed almost content.

the villains, it seemed, noticed this in him and were starting to get annoyed. They challenged each other who will make him show fear or cry or beg. NO one seemed to be able to do that, not even when Pan tied him to The Tree (where, as a little boy, he abandoned him) and broke his bones with a heavy pipe.

And then Zelena came.

Zelena advanced toward the tree where he was tied and reached out in an attempt to touch Rumple's hair. He, however, flinched and backed his head away from her reach. Zelena chuckled softly and said, "I can make you beg."

"No you can't," Rumple retorted without fear.

"Oh?" Zelena looked excited, "you - _already-_ forgot what it felt like to be my doll?"

Rumple laughed, "you can't control me now," he said.

"Oh yes I can," she answered, "the darkness was indeed destroyed, and the dagger doesn't exist, but this is _-my-_ happily ever after," she reached for him again, and he jumped away in disgust, "the happiest I've ever been was when you were in my cage under my complete control."

Rumple must have felt a small trickle of fear because he rolled his eyes, pretending she didn't faze him.

"I'll prove it to you," she said removing the binds that Pan used to tie him to the tree, and said, "I command you to stand still," she directed, "now try to move."

Only Regina was able to recognize the signs of fear that Rumple was trying to hide.

Zelena reached out again and this time was able to touch him. She gently put Rumple's hair behind his ear. He was beginning to shake and she laughed triumphantly, as she kept touching his face and invading his personal space, "I get a point," she yelled at the crowd, "I can make him tremble in fear!"

She continued humiliating him, to the cheers and whistles of the crowd, telling everyone how she handled him like her toy doll while he was totally helpless to stop her. Zelena conjured a dagger that looked similar to what he had as the dark one and used it to cut through his shirt collar to catcalls from the evil crowd. Regina could not watch anymore, and shook the dream catcher, to fast-forward the memories.

The next scene was night time. Rumple was shaking, exposed and helpless, on the cold rocky ground, there were tear stains making tracks on his bloody face, and he looked broken. Milah stood some distance away holding a blanket, looking as if she wanted to help him. But before she could gather enough courage to approach him with that bit of comfort, Pan appeared in front of him and sat on a big rock.

"So, do you regret your big sacrifice," Peter pan asked mockingly.

His son did not answer.

"do you want to see what your wuved ones are doing now," Pan asked waving his hand and, as if a projector was working, and the clouds were a screen to watch the images on, Pan made scenes appear. First it showed Henry playing ball with his friends, then Belle laughing with Archie and playing with her baby, then Neal talking and laughing with Emma. At the look of warmth he saw on Rumple's face Pan quickly stopped the images. (apparently gratifying Rumple was not his intention).

"They don't care about you," Pan told his son. "Look how they are going about their business completely ignoring the fact that you ever existed. Don't you regret sacrificing your happiness for them?"

"No," Rumple said.

"It won't get any better for you here. Today was only the first day and we already got you to cry and beg for mercy," Pan laughed, "it will just get worse, do you realize that?"

"I accept that," Rumple said quietly, his voice breaking slightly.

"your wuved ones don't even know you exist. They forgot you, they don't even know who you are! How could you not regret what you're enduring for them?"

"Because," Rumple whispered haltingly, " _I_ know who _-they-_ are, and I love them," he said simply.

Pan kicked him hard in the face and walked away in disgust.

Suddenly Regina heard a lot of noise. it took her a precious few seconds to realize that the noise was happening now, and was not part of Milah's memories.

there were shouts of outrage, "he's dead!?"

"How is that possible!?"

Regina saw them dragging Rumple by his hair and poking his body with sharp arrows. He looked a lot skinnier and dirtier than in the memories.

"He was not supposed to die," one man, who looked like a duke was barking,  "we're supposed to be able to torture him to death and then do it again and again!"

People were clamoring to check him out, Regina noticed that even _death_ did not erase the utter terror and sheer agony from his face. 

"He croaked!" nasty voices hollered, "No way!"

When they realized he was really dead, they cut off his head and kicked it around. The angry mob looked so dangerous that Regina ran to where her friends were at Milah's headstone and poofed them away from the island.

They all suddenly found themselves in the underworld again.

"How did we get here?"

"We must have followed Milah," Regina guessed, "hey, don't complain! At least we're not in Neverland anymore," Regina shuddered.

The underworld looked almost as empty as it did before, but this time there were two people in there with them. Milah was standing in the middle looking at them, and Rumple, who looked like he had just arrived a second ago, stood up and looked around in surprise.

"I'm dead?" he asked, and he looked so _-happy- _about it, "How is that possible?"__

____

____

____

____

"They broke the rules," Milah said, "they were supposed to only torture - _you_ \- to death, but because they also killed me, one of their own, they broke the rules, and when your torture reached a fatal level, you actually died. Unlike all the other times." 

Before Rumple could process what Milah was saying, Bae was hugging him tightly and crying, "papa," and Rumple was hugging his son back lovingly.

"what happened? why are you here, Bae," Rumple asked softly, he looked worried, "is everyone OK?"

"Everyone is fine, papa, everything is great, except..." he paused, his voice cracking, "We tried to save you, but now you're dead," Neal cried.

"Don't cry for me, Bae," Rumple gently cupped Bae's cheek, wiping the tears away with his thumb, "I'm so happy to see you're safe."

"I wish we could _both_ live, papa," Bae couldn't stop the tears from streaming down.

"Oh, I wish it too," he answered heavily, and Neal hugged his father again, overwhelmed with emotion.

"You will always be my son, Bae, no matter where I am," Rumple kissed his son's forehead, "I will always love you."

"I'm going to get Belle," Regina said and went to the boat, "its pretty safe here since all the villains are stuck in Neverland forever"

"I don't  think it will stay safe," Milah said, "now that they broke the rules and they have nobody to prey on, they might start killing each other. This place will fill up in a month or two. I wouldn't  want to be here when they arrive," Milah said with a shudder.

"You have to try to move on then, Milah," Rumpelstiltskin said seriously.

"What about you," Neal asked his father.

"I won't be allowed into the better place," he answered, resigned, "I'm a villain, and I have no permission --"

"Why would mama be allowed and not you?" Neal cut him off angrily.

Just then Belle arrived with the little baby. Regina and Henry followed behind.

"Rumple," she cried as she ran to him.

"Belle," he kissed her and looked into her eyes.  He then looked at the baby in her arms and his eyes welled up with pride.

"How is our child," he asked, tenderly, letting her hold his finger with her tiny fist. "Did you name her yet?" 

"Not yet, but as I was hurrying here to see you, I thought of the perfect name for her. I will name her after you."

"What, no! Rumpelstiltskin is a terrible name for our girl," he said looking horrifyed.

"No, look, you know how everyone has been calling you Mr. Gold, and Emma just calls you Gold? Well, our llittle girl will be named Goldy. Because she is as precious as you've always been."

"That is a nice name," Rumple smiled.

"I think you should start moving on," Regina said, "I don't want Henry to stay here when the villains start arriving."

"In order for me to move on," Milah sad, "I need Baelfire to forgive me. Baelfire," she turned to her son, "I am so sorry that I left you and I never even came back for you. I could have come back many times, our ship docked close to your village, but I never bothered... I am so sorry, Baelfire. Even when I knew about the oger's war and that they would take you, I never came by and offered to take you with me on the ship away from the duke and his bullies. Your father would have been more than happy to send you away with me if it meant you'd be safe from the war. And when I met your father, so many years later, while he was looking for a magic bean- to get to you, I never even -asked- how you were doing."

Neal looked sad, "mama, I will forgive you on one condition,"

"Anything,"

"If you are allowed into the better place, I want you to take my papa with you. When the gates open for you, hold his hand and refuse to go inside without him."

Milah agreed readily, and she promptly moved toward Rumple to hold his hand.

"Wait," Henry said, and gave Gold a big hug, "I'll miss you, grandpa. Thank you for saving my life."

"Thank _you_ Henry," Gold said, "for helping your mother break the curse, and for helping me find your dad."

"And thank you, Emma," Gold said, turning to Emma who was standing quite still the entire time. Since she fell asleep in Neverland, she knew nothhing of the new developments. Between Milah's funeral and the imennent danger, no one ever got a chance to tell Emma who the hero was.

"Thank you for helping me save my family," Gold held his hand out to shake Emma's

"It was - _you_ -?" Emma finally spoke, and she looked so shocked that Gold laughed.

"And thank you for drinking that forgetting potion," he said becoming more serious, "you have no idea how much I appreciate that."

A light started to shine showing a gate to the better place in the after life and Milah took Rumple's hand in hers and started walking towards it. Rumple turned his head to look at Belle and their eyes locked until he dissappeared into the light.

"Then where is Hook?" Emma asked.

"In Neverland," answered Regina, "exactly where he belongs."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when a hero sacrifices his everything for his family (like, breaking his ankle and leaving the war - sacrificing his respect, or becoming the dark one sacrificing his soul, killing Pan sacrificing his life, or letting go of the dagger sacrificing his freedom) the sensible thing to do in appreciation is to STAY SAFE so that it wont be for nothing. It's mean to die in order to bring him back. it's like throwing his sacrifice in his face. The Baelfire in THIS story didn't do that. He listened to Regina and stayed safe. And he let the Hero die in peace.


	8. Dark One Lies, Dark One Tricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gold wanted to make sure that no one would look for him, or worry about him. Ever. He wanted Belle to know that he loved her and that she was a hero.

The way home from the underworld was quiet. Everyone sat crammed together in the little dinghy. Belle was weeping softly while Regina was hugging her and David put a protective hand on her shoulder. Henry and Emma were holding Neal who looked somber. Everyone wanted to comfort Belle and Neal but no one had any words to say. When they arrived in Storybrooke, they followed Belle and Neal to Gold's shop: it just felt like the natural thing to do. They were surprised to see the light on in the shop and a crowd of people.

"Oh," Belle said, as if remembering something.

"They're still there?" Henry asked surprised.

"Who?" Asked David.

Belle looked a little confused, "it must have been fake memories," she said, "all my friends were gathered with me just as Regina came to get me. We were commemorating the first anniversary of ... well, of my husband's very peaceful death."

"Is that all you temember?" Henry asked, surprised

"Why... yes, I mean, I knew this for a year. I remember the whole year... Ruby, Leroy, Mulan, they were all there for me. Yeah, I remember everything Rumple told me last year before... before... wait, none of this makes any sense." Belle said.

"That's because none of it really happened," Henry laughed. "Don't you remember this morning, the letter you found in the chipped cup?

Belle turned to stare at Henry, "letter?"

"Yes, the letter asking you to invite all the people you are friends with, and me and my dad. No? That letter said all will be clear once you open that Champaign bottle and drink from it?"

"I don't know what you are talking about," Belle said.

"Wow," Henry marveled, "that drink must have been a really strong fake memory. My dad would have remembered 'last year' too, if he wasn't on the rescue mission with _you_ guys. Belle, just this morning, you had no idea where grandpa Gold was."

"Really?" Belle asked looking around at everyone else.

They all nodded and said that they don't have these memories.

"So, if you were there too, Henry, why don't you have fake memories?" Belle asked.

"Oh, I held that cup in my hands and felt that this was a potion of some sort, I knew it was memories of something, and I wanted to see what you were all supposed to be remembering. That's why I didn't stop anyone else from drinking it." Henry smiled apologetically. "After everyone drank from it, the letter disappeared. It was so cool! But I never got a chance to ask you about it because just then, my mom came to get us."

Everyone looked at Regina. "Is that really true?" David asked.

"Yes," Regina nodded, "they were all here when I came. I wonder why they didn't leave. I guess they want to know what happened, if Belle really saw Gold."

"Do we tell them these memories are fake?" Belle asked hesitantly.

She remembered it like it really was a year ago. Rumple was dying from some magical malady, one that didn't have any symptoms, other than peaceful death. She remembered how she saved him from the darkness, thus saving the whole town from his curse when he dies. She remembered how he told her he loved her, and how she should tell their child how her papa loved her.

"Were all those memories fake?" Belle remarked wistfully, "I wasn't the hero who saved him from darkness..."

"Of course you were, Belle. He wanted you to know that. You made him strong enough to be able to save the world. What do you think the _source_ of all that power was? What did grandpa always say was the most powerful magic in existence?"

"Love.. " Belle said along with a few other voices. Everyone knew his mantra. He's been chanting it repeatedly since anyone can remember.

"He probably gave you those fake memories so you wouldn't worry about him, and put yourself in danger looking for him."

Regina eyed Neal as he looked down thoughtfully.

"He wanted me to know that he loved me, that he didn't just... disappear..." Belle hugged her baby closer.

"You would have probably drank that potion a year ago, too, if you weren't so busy with Goldilocks," Henry said pointing at the baby in Belle's arms.

Regina thought that it was probably a good thing that Belle got closure, when she "buried" her husband, since Regina could not bring the real body back with them. _Or_ , she thought darkly, _whatever was left of it._. Regina felt a little shiver at the image imprinted in her memory of the state his corpse was in before they escaped that terrible place.

They all just stood there, outside the shop, not knowing what to say to Belle's friends and supporters who were gathered there.

When our young Henry saw this, he walked into the shop and announced proudly, "My grandfather was the truest hero, the one who brought everyone their chance at happiness. Unlike the _last time_ he saved us all, from Pan, we were still in danger. This time, the world was saved on a grand scale. I know that you all remember supporting your friend Belle throughout this past year. Thank you for that, and keep supporting her and being there for her and her little girl."

Henry turned to Belle and asked, "Belle, would you want to announce my aunt's name? It's time she has one, she's almost a year and a half."

Belle smiled shyly as she entered the shop and resolutely, she faced her future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you read this can you please write some kind of a review? I always appreciate criticism, and would love to know what you felt about this fan fiction.


	9. Forgiveness

When Milah and Rumple crossed over, they were greeted by a hero's welcome. thousands of people from generations going all the way back to the beginning of time were praising Rumple and hoping to shake his hand. He was courteous and smiled and nodded to everyone. He turned to look at Milah, to ask her how to find a quiet place for himself, and saw her face was positively glowing, like she was having a great time.

"Hey," he told her, "it's nice to get all this attention and all that, but where can I go to have some privacy?"

"Oh," Milah looked surprised that he wasn't sharing her love for attention, "You just have to think about your happy place, and you'll find yourself there."

An instant later, they were both in their old hovel. "This?" Milah was astonished, "This is your happy place?"

"It's where I raised Bae," he said quietly, "why did you come here with me?"

"I guess it's because we are still holding hands," Milah said and they let go of each other's hands.

"I still can't believe that I'm here..." Rumple looked around, "I will actually get to see my family one day, in the far far future, hopefully."

"What if Belle gets married to someone else," Milah asked, "She's already feeling a little too comfortable with that Archie character."

"I _hope_ she gets married again," Rumple answered, "she has a long life ahead of her, I wouldn't want her to be stuck with a ghost. I want her to move on and raise our daughter with a partner."

"What if they fall in love and she will want to spend her afterlife with him instead?"

Rumple was quiet for a minute thinking about how he would feel about it, "I will be happy for her and hope that she will still want to be my friend," he said.

"Can you be my friend, even though I know you love someone else?" Milah asked.

He looked at her, shocked, "you want to be my friend," he said, "after what I did to you?"

"I still have feelings for you," Milah said and quickly added, "I know you don't feel the same way, but can we at least be friends?"

"- _You_ \- never had feelings for me," Rumple looked very confused, "you told me you never loved me."

Milah shrugged, "It's complicated."

Rumple stared at her. "I _did_ love you and regretted killing you, like that, without stopping myself. I am such a monster for doing that and I am so sorry."

"I already punished you enough for that, and you apologized to me a thousand times in Neverland," Milah said, " but I never apologized to you for the way I treated you after you came home from the war. I was so consumed by wanting honor and respect from strangers, that I wasn't even thinking about what this must have done to you, not only to injure yourself, but to sacrifice all that respect you were hoping to gain, just to come home to our son."

Rumple and Milah forgave each other and Rumple stayed peacefully in the quiet village waiting for the day in the far future when he will see Belle again.

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End file.
